Businesses and organizations often use security applications to ensure the security and integrity of data used by users of the organization. In the context of mobile devices, there are a variety of vendors that provide mobile device management (MDM) applications that run on user mobile devices. However, as mobile device functionality rapidly evolves, and users adapt to using mobile devices in new ways, MDM vendors can struggle to keep up with demand for new functionality. Meanwhile, a large number of third parties offer applications that users desire to use.
While organization security policies have evolved to cater to user desire to use third-party applications on their mobile devices, it is difficult for these policies to ensure data security. Third-party applications may not be as secure as an organization would like. Accordingly, a common approach to this problem is to restrict sensitive data to within an MDM application on the device. However, this restrictive approach can limit the user's ability to use third-party applications with sensitive data. As a result, MDM vendors often must provide desirable functionality entirely within the application. Because applications and user preferences evolve, it can be difficult for an MDM vendor to keep up with demand for new functionality within its application.
Furthermore, not all data within an organization is necessarily sensitive. For example, certain documents within an organization may be of a public character, while other documents may be highly sensitive. Accordingly, restricting public documents available through the organization to the MDM application can be an unacceptably rigid approach to security.
Accordingly, there is a need for an MDM solution that allows a more intelligent approach to data security, allowing users to interact with third-party applications in a secure manner, allowing an organization to define security policies with the more flexibility with respect to the security of organization data.